A recent student survey ranks UT’s School of Architecture number two in the nation for student satisfaction.

The survey was conducted by Design Intelligence, an architecture and design industry publication. Design Intelligence associate editor Austin Cramer said the ranking was calculated with responses from students and professionals at undergraduate and master levels.

“The ranking is unique because the report is tailored to leaders of firms, so they can use the information to know where students are coming from that will be prepared,” Cramer said.

Other schools ranked in the top five include Harvard, Rice, Cornell and Syracuse. Architecture Dean Frederick Steiner said the school's ranking is a result of excellent teaching and advancing research.

“I am proud that our ranking was the top of any public university,” Frederick said. “ Only Harvard was higher. Of the other top five ranked schools, the other three are private universities. Without the same levels of resources, our faculty and staff work doubly hard to keep students satisfied.”

Frederick said that there is a gap between UT and other schools' budgets because of fewer endowments. He said he hopes to increase fundraising so that the school may provide guest speakers, equipment and programs to increase student satisfaction and increase the overall quality of the architecture school.

According to the Design Intelligence survey, 98 percent of UT architecture students feel prepared for their profession upon graduation and 87 percent rank the overall quality of the program as excellent.

Architecture graudate student Morgan Parker said her personal satisfaction comes from UT’s facilities and its amiable environment.

“The student and faculty are like a family and we spend so much time together,” Parker said. ”We value each others opinions and the discourse we have and that’s the reason why UT is so great."

Parker said she has visited other top architecture programs and believed UT’s facilities were more advanced.

The report containing the survey results is done annually by Design Intelligence with different sections of surveys catered to architectural and design deans, students, employers and professionals.

Follow Luqman Adeniyi on Twitter @StopnLuqman.